Long Distance Spell
by Runespoor
Summary: FE10. A Blizzard-wielding sage and a nervous pegasus conspire to throw a Hawk king and a beorc queen in close proximity. It works Tibarn/Elincia.


**Title: **Long-Distance Spell  
**Pairing: **Tibarn/Elincia  
**Rating: **PG-13  
**Summary: **A Blizzard-wielding sage and a nervous pegasus conspire to throw a Hawk king and a beorc queen in close proximity. It works~

**Notes: **written for the kink meme. Original request was for a FE10 Tibarn/Elincia fic with accidental stimulation, proximity, friction. It turned out quite tame.

Takes place during IV-2 of _Radiant Dawn_, contains spoilers.

* * *

The wind spell came literally out of nowhere.

Usually Tibarn only kept a distracted eye out for mages, more out of habit than because they were truly a danger to him, but for some reason, this time, he didn't sense it until it was almost too late.

There was no warning sign; simply, he felt strange, disruptive vibrations in the air, and it was pure instinct that he threw himself to the side. The next moment, a frozen inferno closed where he'd been hovering the second before, catching the tip of his wing.

It was instinct again that made him recoil violently and bump into the person behind him.

A little more than bump, actually. The spell had made him lose his balance, and the blades of cold air ripping around had apparently frightened the pegasus. The branch of a nearby tree snapped with a crack.

Tibarn found himself more or less flung over the pegasus' wing, pressed against its rider. Her arms had wound up wrapped around his neck, reaching out automatically when the sudden disturbance in the air combined with her pegasus' reaction had threatened to make her fall.

"Ah," said Elincia, her eyes wide. "Well."

She sounded calmer than he'd have imagined, but her cheeks had taken a rosy tint.

He grunted an agreement and didn't take his hands off from the resting place they'd found on her waist. The gusts of air were still blowing, rippling through the tall grass in agitated swirls.

"Long-distance spell," Elincia muttered. "I didn't see anything coming."

"Me neither." Under him, he could feel the pegasus finally start to settle down. Privately he agreed; the currents in the air were returning to their previous state.

"You don't think Janaff might have?"

Tibarn looked back to her, and smiled humorlessly at her earnest look. "Yeah, he might. Except that I sent him the other way to guard Reyson and Pelleas."

"Ah," she said again.

Now they were no longer being tossed around, Tibarn was beginning to be aware of the warmth of her body. Her right hand, he realized as it shifted, was resting on the back of his head.

"We should go look for the mage," the queen of Crimea suggested.

Was she running her fingers through his hair?... No. She was taking them out. Her fingertips grazed his neck as she did, but it was probably involuntary. He followed her suite, removing his hands and putting some space between the pegasus' wings and him.

"That's a good idea."

Elincia nodded. "Let's go, then." The coat-tails of her riding outfit brushed against him as her pegasus, under her urging, flew over the bushes.

Lucia looked like she was doing a good job, Tibarn decided.

Elincia's retainer was leading the little group through the tall grass, slowed down though they were. They were huddled together in a cluster of armors and sharp weapons, and Tibarn could easily imagine the damage a long-distance spell would wreak.

If Elincia and he took too long localizing and taking out the magic user, the caster would soon be able to attack the rest of the army.

He'd barely landed next to Elincia when the next Blizzard came.

This time, he was ready for it, and he avoided it with ease, slipping between the chilly gashes the spell tore through the air. Avoiding the queen's mount shouldn't have even been a question, but her pegasus was still jumpy; when the first whip of wind snapped under his nostrils, charged with magical energy, the animal sprang away with a shriek.

He collided vigorously with Tibarn, who found himself with an armful of pretty beorc queen.

"Oof!"

Elincia was an accomplished rider, no doubt about that, and that was probably the only reason she wasn't sprawled on the ground by now, but even then her pegasus' wild behavior had thrown her half out of her saddle.

She lifted her head from Tibarn's chest with some difficulty. The fall must've made her dizzy. Tibarn could feel goosebumps rising where her hair tickled him. In fact, he could even feel a strand of her hair that had sneaked under his jacket, not even one inch away from his nipple.

"I'm sorry..." There were moaning inflexions in her voice. "I apologize, he's been nervous ever since Ashera's judgement..."

Her fall was bringing his attention to something he had previously been aware of, but not enough that it'd earned more than a passing thought, that is to say, that Elincia's tunic skirt thing, when not concealed by the long coat-tails, stopped quite high above her legs.

High enough that her boots, which hugged her legs until above mid-thigh level, revealed a couple of inches of pale yellow tights, and the shapely legs enclosed within.

It was more visible when not framed by the coat-tails, though maybe there was also the fact, in this case, that the tunic was hiking up...

The view was nice.

"I know what you mean. Think nothing of it."

_His_ tone was probably not as grave as the subject matter deserved, but there was a part of him that was starting to enjoy the situation. Not to the point where it'd be embarrassing, but... Certainly enjoying it.

He helped her getting seated upright again, though in truth she didn't need his help and he knew it. He simply enjoyed keeping on touching her, much as he enjoyed the graceful way she had of thanking him afterwards.

Her legs had twitched in a lovely manner, and her supple moves – when she'd leaned on him, closing her hands around his biceps – spoke only of good things.

Tibarn was suddenly rather glad he'd sent Reyson the other way. There were certain disadvantages to having a heron around; he'd learned his lesson years ago, when he'd seen Reyson turn purple and try to land one on Naesala.

Elincia was flushed as she gathered her reins, her hair messed up.

"He can't be far, now," she said. "We-- we should be able to catch him off-guard before he has time to cast another spell."

She glanced at him from under lowered eyelashes. It was... interesting that she seemed troubled.

Tibarn himself was starting to wish she was a little further away.

With every flap of the pegasus' wings, her leg rubbed against him, long and drawn-out. The flimsy gauze of her cloak had caught between them at some point when he'd been helping her back into her saddle, and now it was running a silky torture, floating on Tibarn's skin – fresh and light like he imagined her breath would be.

Right. He needed to get to the action, now.

"I'll go first," he said shortly, pointing at the corner of the grove just two meters away. "Then you come in case there's another one, or a sniper, and run them through with Amiti. That ought to leave them stunned."

She nodded. "Yes, I'm a stunning woman."

Her voice was high-pitched; she sounded like a very tense person who was trying to relax by cracking a bad joke.

Surprised, Tibarn glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, but she was staring straight ahead. Her blush hadn't subdued.

"I mean, it's a sound plan."

She avoided looking at him when he took his flight again.

They'd been right about how far the sage was. There was a tiny alcove between the trees; he was alone, breathing slowly as he prepared to summon another tempest.

He was weighted down by his wretched tome and he didn't expect an attack to come from the sky; it was over very quickly.

Elincia landed next to him a minute later. He saw her take the situation in, her gaze flicking to the body before turning to their surroundings.

The sage must have been quite comfortable on his own in such a small surface, but it was quickly becoming crowded. She was close enough to touch, if he reached out, close enough that they _would_ touch, if that animal of hers decided to turn even slightly.

Her tongue passed over her lips before she spoke.

"There are others only a few meters ahead, and two generals the way we come from. We can't go out yet, we have to wait until Lucia and the others catch up."

Her shoulders were rigid. Tibarn felt conflicted as to whether he ought to curse their proximity – made even more awkward since she wasn't as unaffected as he'd first believed – or... not. She was attracted.

"I see. Well then, we'll just have to wait."

There.

He'd displayed his feathers, as clearly as he dared to in front of a beorc queen, someone he'd doubtless meet again on diplomatic ventures long after the war was won, someone who was his equal among beorcs and who yielded probably more authority in their current army than he did, someone who wouldn't have understood the meaning of a full-blown Hawk mating dance even if he'd been reckless enough to throw one when they were hiding from an army.

("Which army," was a question that flashed through Tibarn's mind. He ignored it. The correct answer would have been "whichever is the more likely to interrupt".)

Her clutch over the reins slowly loosened. He tried to catch a glimpse her expression, but her bangs shielded her face.

"I see," she echoed. "We'll... do that, then."

And then she looked up, and her eyes were bright and determined, with a touch of mischievousness, and a hint of something that wasn't entirely unlike fear.

Tibarn loved it. _Crazy beorc queen._

"Are you going to help me dismount?"

Her voice held a touch of challenge under Elincia's unfailing politeness.

His lips quipped into a smile.

"Certainly."

And when he lifted his hand to provide her with the support a gallant knight would offer, her fingers closed in a grip far too forceful to be indicative of ladylike intentions.

Tibarn's smile broke into a grin.


End file.
